


A Good Woman

by DecemberLove



Series: Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them Character Drabbles [2]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Drabble, F/M, Healing, Original Percival Graves Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Original Percival Graves Needs a Hug, Short One Shot, Still got no Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-03
Updated: 2017-01-03
Packaged: 2018-09-13 13:23:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9125527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DecemberLove/pseuds/DecemberLove
Summary: Takes place after the last drabble I wrote featuring these characters, this time in Graves' point of view. It's not necessary to have read the first one.





	

It had been a year since I'd been rescued from Grindlewald, and only now was I being allowed to return to my role within MACUSA. And even that was only while being made to report to the Medi-Witches once a week, to ensure I was...well.

Honestly, the thought filled me with dread.

Everyone already treated me like some kind of fragile, delicate little thing that couldn't handle the world. They all seemed to have forgotten that I was a man born and bred from a long line of Aurors, had spent years honing my abilities fighting with both magic and hand-to-hand-combat, and that I had one of the best records of any Aurors in MACUSA's history. All they say was a victim of a dark wizard while I...I was just trying to forget all about it.

I knew it wasn't healthy - along with the nightmares, I knew that repressing memories and emotionally distancing myself from those memories, trying to avoid being reminded of the traumatic event were key symptoms of PTSD. The same with the 'hyper-arousal': the constantly being on-edge, ready for the next attack, making me irritable and unable to sleep or concentrate. But knowing that I was displaying symptoms of PTSD didn't help me deal with it! It only deepened the guilt I already felt, made me feel like I was burdening the Auror Department, the Medical Wing, and hell, MACUSA in general. I just wanted my life to go on as normal: and I was determined to act like it was until everyone else did as well.

 

And thankfully the one person who seemed to be _(most of the time)_ on-board with my plan was already slouched in a chair and smirking outside of my office, cuffed to a rather miffed looking Goldstein: "Miss Selwyn. I was thinking maybe I should just give you a key to my office so you can just let yourself in."

"It might make this whole process more efficient." the British criminal smirked: "But then, I wouldn't want any of your other regulars to get jealous."

"Ah, I only have time for you these days."

Selwyn grinned wolfishly: "Good. I do so hate to share."

 

Goldstein was all too happy to hand the other end of Selwyn's cuffs over to me, allowing me to lead the woman into my office without any fuss.

Of course, that was to be expected. Selwyn was a known trouble-maker: previously as a highly successful thief, now for smaller, more or less harmless offenses, but as one of the British Sacred Twenty-Eight, MACUSA had never been able to arrest her. The only reason she was here now was because she wanted to help _me_.

So as soon as the door was locked behind us, the cuffs came off, a silencing charm was cast, and the lights were dimmed. Because Selwyn was here to help me, and as much as she was happy to act as my life was normal when there were others around (because that was I wanted her to do; I didn't need their pity), she was also perfectly aware that my life was anything but 'normal'. It had taken her a lot of time and effort into getting me to accept that she knew and wanted to help without pity being her motivatior, and she didn't let her effort go to waste now.

 

"How've you slept since I last saw you?" came the first question - not an ounce of pity, just a question on whether or not I was getting the level of rest I needed to continue to function.

Which, admittedly, I hadn't been getting: "Not well. Might need to come up with a way of meeting that doesn't involve you getting arrested; at some point someone's bound to notice that I never actually charge you."

"The Ministry already have. Or at least they had." came the blithe response: "Aunt Peggy has already written telling me that she's hidden my 'indiscretions', and enquiring how I'm getting out of all these arrests. I told her I had it handled." then there was the equally blithe smile: "Besides, I don't mind getting arrested. It gives me a chance to have a little girl-time with Goldstein."

"You're driving that poor woman insane."

"She wants to get her claws into a man I consider my younger brother, or at least a well-liked cousin. Of course I'm driving her insane, how else would Theseus and I know she's good enough for Newt?"

 

Another thing I liked about Selwyn - her loyalty. To her blood-family, to her brother-in-law Theseus Scamander, to his younger brother - they all mattered to her, and so she would protect them all, even if her methods were unorthodox. But then, her methods when helping me weren't exactly standard procedure.

Once me we ended up on the couch in my office: my head laying in Selwyn's lap as she sat reading a book - her fingers lightly carding through my hair, rubbing lightly at my scalp, generally petting me. If it'd been anyone else, I would never have allowed myself to be so vulnerable. But Selwyn was unusual in the sense that, despite her criminality, she didn't brag or try to lord people's weaknesses over others: not unless she deemed them a threat that needed to be removed. And despite our chagrin over the matter, Selwyn had never deemed MACUSA or any of it's members a threat to her. She believed that she was far too savvy and well-connected for that...not that she was wrong. The one time Picquery had made noises about her behaviour, she'd received a subtly-worded warning from the Ministry of Magic about how MACUSA proceeded with Selwyn.

Right now, I was glad that we hadn't arrested her. She was far too soothing a presence to be left in a cell somewhere; for some reason I felt that, should anything go wrong while I was asleep, Selwyn would handle it. She was a competent woman; skilled with magic, smart, and strong-willed. And she had _noticed_ when I was...gone.

It was why Grindelwald had stopped trying to bring her in. She had known almost immediately that something had been wrong, and she'd spoken to Theseus about it: if a letter Grindelwald had intercepted to Picquery from Theseus had been any indication. How two Brits had noticed an issue none of my Aurors (with the exception of Goldstein) had was beyond belief. And it was why I felt safe enough to fall asleep in Selwyn's lap, when I couldn't even sleep in my own bed most of the time. Part of me hated that...

Part of me enjoyed it.

Selwyn was intelligent. She was undoubtedly beautiful. And she smelt good. Like subtle perfume, the warm hint of whiskey, and something that tied the two together: sweet and light. If I was going to be soothed by anyone, I was glad it was by her, even if she was criminal. Even if anyone was shocked by that...well, they owed me their silence, since that was exactly what they had given Grindelwald while he was wearing my face.

 

"Graves?" Selwyn asked softly, just as I was about to drift off.

"Hmm?"

"I'm glad you're getting some sleep." _I'm glad that you feel comfortable with me._ She didn't have to say it - I knew that was what she meant. But she'd never say it aloud, because she didn't want to make me uncomfortable.

 

Despite her criminal behaviour, Elizabeth Selwyn was a fundamentally good woman.

 

"Thank you, Selwyn." _Thank you for looking after me._

 

Just like her, I didn't have to say the last bit aloud.

I knew she already knew.


End file.
